Ghalib Lovers, Toughen Up! Shashi Tharoor Just Made A Gaffe

Shashi Tharoor gets Ghalib’s birthday wrong, misquotes his poetry; Gets schooled by Javed Akhtar

Has Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who can be easily called the darling of the literati, and has often amused us with his impeccable command of the English language, let down a bit, the same circle that venerated him?

Yes, the leader committed not one, but two blunders - first by wrongly attributing a piece of shayari to Mirza Ghalib, and second by wishing the famous Urdu poet on an incorrect birth date.

Here’s what Tharoor had posted on Twitter, captioning the lines as belonging to Ghalib, on what he said was Ghalib’s 220th birthday.

ख़ुदा की मोहब्बत को फ़ना कौन करेगा?
सभी बन्दे नेक हों तो गुनाह कौन करेगा?
ऐ ख़ुदा मेरे दोस्तों को सलामत रखना
वरना मेरी सलामती की दुआ कौन करेगा
और रखना मेरे दुश्मनों को भी महफूज़
वरना मेरी तेरे पास आने की दुआ कौन करेगा...!!!
Mirza Ghalib’s 220th birthday. So many great lines....

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) July 20, 2019